🔗 Share this article

A series of joint attacks has reportedly destroyed or damaged at least 11 Iran's navy ships starting the weekend, new aerial photos demonstrate, with launch facilities and atomic facilities also coming under fire.

Pictures of the southerly Konarak naval base and the Bandar Abbas port installation, which overlooks the Strait of Hormuz and is home to the main command of the Iran's naval force, reveal black smoke pouring from a number of warships on recent days.

Naval Fleet Incurred Major Losses

Included in the targets eliminated was the Makran, the country's most sizable ship which had functioned as a unmanned aerial vehicle platform. Satellite images displayed black smoke pouring from the ship which had been moored at the Bandar Abbas base.

Intelligence assessments state that at least five ships at the port were "damaged or eliminated". Imagery of the south end of the port show plumes ascending from the IRINS Makran, while two other vessels are visibly harmed, with one of them clearly on fire.

Over at the Konarak base, images reveal multiple harmed ships, with intelligence reports pointing to strikes against six ships. Pictures taken on the start of the week also show that multiple structures at the installation have been leveled.

"For many years the Iran's leadership has disrupted global maritime traffic," the head of US Central Command said. "At present, there is no Iranian vessel operational in the Arabian Gulf, Hormuz Strait or Gulf of Oman, and we will persist."

Some ships reportedly destroyed may have been hidden in aerial photos by haze or plumes, or hit in open waters, and have yet to be fully confirmed. Separate reports stated that a ship from Iran was foundering near Sri Lankan territorial waters, resulting in a rescue operation.

Missile Sites and Nuclear Facilities Hit

Neutralizing Iran's rocket sites and the hindering of atomic bomb programs were listed as other objectives of the military strikes. Aerial imagery also revealed impacts against the southerly Khorgu and northwestern Tabriz missile bases, and at the Konarak air base, where rocket warehouses and fortifications were struck.

Over at the Choqa Balk-e UAV facility to the west of Kermanshah, significant damage was identified to storage buildings, bunkers and UAV launching apparatus.

Damage was also observed at a radar installation at the Zahedan airbase airbase in eastern parts of the country, near the border with neighboring nations.

Of particular note, the new round of attacks have apparently hit facilities at the Natanz complex – widely believed to be at the center of Iran's nuclear programme. The UN's atomic energy body commented that the affected structures were used for entry to the site's below-ground nuclear plant and that "no release of radioactive material" was likely.

Broader Fallout and Analysis

Military analysts indicated that the offensive appeared to have "significantly degraded" the Iran's naval capacity to sustain traditional warfare using its largest warships. But, it was stressed that Tehran still has the option to launch asymmetric warfare at sea through the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, mini-submarines and its so-called "shadow fleet" of tankers.

The full scale of the damage caused to Iran's defense infrastructure is still uncertain, with hostilities said to be persisting. Photos also indicates widespread damage to the command center of the the IRGC in the city of Tehran.

Numerous of civilian buildings also seem to have been hit in the capital and across the country since the conflict escalated. Casualty figures from local officials suggest that a high number of civilians may have been killed in the strikes.

Amid continuing hostilities, review of satellite imagery will persist to track the evolving military landscape.